〈◊〉 GREAT DUTY OF Christians TO Go forth without the Camp TO JESUS Set forth in several SERMONS On Hebr. XIII 13. By S. T. M. of A. of Trinity College in Cambridge LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Three Bibles and Crown in Cheapside MDCLXXXII To the Right Honourable WILLIAM Lord RVSSEL Grace Mercy and Peace be multiplied from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ My Lord IT is one of the wonderful Riddles and deep Mysteries of Providence That the Church that hath the least of Sin should yet endure the most of Sufferings That the Metal that is best refined should be most often cast into the Furnace and That they that are most white in their Souls with the Beauty of Holiness should be so black'd in their Outward Man and State by the scorching Sun of Persecution How hard is it for those that live by Sense to believe That they shall wear glittering Crowns and sit on glorious Thrones for ever that now are crushed as Worms under the Feet of Sinners and are bruised as Grapes in the Wine-press of the Worlds Rage and Fury But as the First-born of God's New Family veiled his Majesty emptied himself and hid his Glory Phil. 2.6 His visage was marred more than any man and his form than the sons of men Isa 52.14 so his younger Brethren are arraied in dark Parables of Shame Reproach and Sufferings The blessed Life of Saints is now hidden and a base and course Covering is spread over all their intrinsick Glory they are as it were disguised and incognitol in the World 1 John 3.1 Pignorius observes Quicquid Taetrum Saevum Horribile in Christianos olim excogitatum exercitum est illud omne ut ego Censeo a servis ad illos transivit De Servis p. 9. That is Whatsoever Grievous Horrible and Cruel Torments were of old practised against the Christians in the Primitive Times were just the same that cruel Masters used to inflict on their bought Slaves O what a dark Veil was cast over the Adopted Sons of God when they were treated just as imperious and tyrannical Masters used to handle their poor and vile Slaves Those that the World hath not been worthy of have been driven Into Wildernesses as if they were not worthy to converse with and live among Men The precious Sons of Zion comparable to fine Gold have been reputed as the vile potsheards of the earth Lam. 4.2 and the heirs of Glory been accounted but as Sheep for the Slaughter Psal 44.22 Peter Martyr in Rom. 8.36 thus glosses the Words That they are not preserved as some Sheep for their Wooll and Lambs but are like other Sheep fed and fatted that their Bodies may be for Meat Scultetus thus understands the Words in Psal 44.22 That the Wicked of the World do make no more to kill the Saints of God than a Butcher doth to kill Sheep The Bodies of the Saints have been laid as the mire of the Streets and their Blood poured out as Water on the Ground and Wicked Men have been permitted to do to some of them even as they would Read Isa 51. last Psal 79.3 Matth. 17.12 My Lord This being the State of the Church of God for the most part in the World how necessary is it that every Christian should be armed with Faith and Patience that the Truths of God should be deeply rooted in our Souls that they may serve as an Helmet to guard our Heads in a great Fight of Afflictions and as an Anchor to establish our Hearts in a grievous Storm of Persecutions These following Considerations may somewhat conduce to this great End 1. Christians should consider That Jesus Christ was not of this World neither is his Kingdom of this World John 18.36 and he represents and commends his Disciples to his Father as conformed to him in this John 17.14 16. They are not of the World even as I am not of the World Christ did but Tabernacle John 1.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in our frail Flesh and passed through the World as a Pilgrim and Stranger And all the Gospel-Worship of Christians is set out by keeping the Feast of Tabernacles Zech. 14.16 And what doth this Expression import Surely this among other things may be hinted to us by this Text That as we are most gratefully to acknowledge this great Mercy of the Son of God's Tabernacling in our Flesh so that it ought to have this Effect upon us to make us to sojourn in the World as Pilgrims and Strangers in expectation of a glorious Life and Inheritance in Heaven We should account that this Natural Life is not our Life but that our Life is hid with God in Christ Col. 3.3 That this Earth is not our Country and that Worldly Enjoyments are not our Portion and Treasure Christ hath crucified our Old Man and abolished the Natural Life by his Death Rom. 6.6 Christ hath put an end to the old Stateâ— Week and World and by Rising again the First Day of the Week he hath begun a new Week and World The Eternal Day doth dawn Immortality is brought to light Everlasting Life is begun and exemplified in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ And he is ascended to Heaven to chuse the Inheritance of and prepare a place for all the Family and Houshold of Faith Psal 47.3 To this Jesus we are called to go forth on this Magnetick and Glorious Object are we to fix our Eyes and Hearts If the Wise Men acknowledged him as King when he lay in a contemptible Cradle and the Thief addressed to him as such when he hung on an ignominious Cross shall not we much more confess and adore him now crowned with Honour and Glory and sitting on the Right hand of the Majesty on High Shall we dote on a World that is a sink of Sin and a Scene of Vanity Shall be we fond of the vile and base Life of the First dislike and disparage the glorious Life of the Second Adam Shall we be charmed by or chained to poor beggarly Objects below and despise the glorious Portion and rich Inheritance of Christ above Shall a short Life clogged with Sin clouded with Sorrows â—â—â—â—â—â—tered with continual Temptations and Warfare be preferred before a Life of Immortality ennobled with glorious Holiness perfect Peace and triumphant Joy 2. Christians should consider what this World is and the Men of it are That they are called out from the World it self is devoted to the Fire this Earth must be burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 And shall we feed on that which must be reduced to Ashes Shall we lay up our Treasure and Portion where the Flames will devour and consume all And what are the unregenerate Men of this World but Spiritual Carcases dead in Sins and Trespasses Strabo in his Geography lib. 17. tells us of a City in Egypt calle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The City of Dead Men because of the multitude of Dead Bodies that were Embalmed there And he
be defiled by touching Sacrifices on whom the sins of Men were laid and so Christ was Condemned and cast out of the Gates of Jerusalem as if he were a very unclean loathsome and abominable Person having yet no sin of his own but being burthened with the sins of his People O! what reproach was this for Jesus to be separated and thrust out from among the Citizens of Jerusalem and then as a Sacrifice to be burned in the Fire of the Vengeance and Wrath of God without the Camp as those Sacrifices for sin were burnt in Material Fire without the Gate on the Day of Atonement And this is further to be observed that the Blood of these Beasts so charged with sin was yet brought into the most Holy Place in the Temple to sprinkle the Mercy Seat and to make Atonement by it in a Type even so though Christ died as an Infamous Person in the Eye of the World and as one charged with the sins of his People in the account of God yet his Blood as most precious is brought into the true Heavenly Sanctuary cries in the Ears of God and is pleaded before his Glorious Throne for the blotting out our sins and the making our Peace with God Thus our Transgressions which are our true and real shame and Reproaches are covered and wiped away before the Lord O! did Jesus Christ die to take away those sins that would have been our Eternal Infamy and Reproach and shall not we willingly go forth to Jesus without the Camp bearing the just and undeserved Reproaches from the World 4. Reas The World still banishes Christ thrusts and keeps him out from among them This is their Language against God and his Son Christ Come let us break their Bonds in sunder and cast their Cords from us Psalm 2.1 2 3. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us Is 30.11 We will not have this Man to Reign over us Luke 19.14 his word hath no place in them John 5.38.42 and the love of God and Christ dwells not in their Souls and may I not here apply the words of the Prophet Jeremiah They have saith he rejected the Law of the Lord and what Wisdom is in them Jer. 8.9 so I may say the World rejects the Lord of this Law and what Wisdom or Excellency is there in them O! shall we value the Favour Esteem the Friendship or Communion of such a World as rejects Jesus Christ Fox Martyr It is related of Bishop Ridley that it repented him that he had Eaten and Drank that he had accepted any Meat or Entertainment in the House of a Princess that refused to hear the Gospel Preached when it was by him offered to her and shall we Magnifie the kindness of a World that is unkind to Jesus Christ will not yield to his Authority entertain his Kingdom submit to his Laws or accept of his Salvation O! should we not call that Place and those Persons Ichabod 1 Sam. 4. two last Verses that thrust away Christ will not suffer him to dwell and reign among them Where is Glory if Christ be excluded and kept out what is Trade Honour Riches if Christ be absent O! how desolate how solitary how uncomfortable should that place and people be to us here we may not protess Christ may not Worship him and enjoy Communion with him in his Ordinances 2 Chron. 11.14.16 as the Levites and Israelites came away to Jerusalem If the World rage against us would separate us from Christ and obstruct our Converse with him how freely and readily should we go out from such a World When the Israelites by their Idolatry had highly provoked God and done much to drive him away and to berave themselves of his Gracious Presence among them Moses took the Tabernacle and Pitched it without the Camp far off from the Camp and those that sought the Lord went out of the Camp unto the Tabernacle to Worship God Exo. 33.7 So truly the World sets up so many Idols of jealousie in their Hearts and so put the stumbling Block of their Iniquity before their Faces that Christ cannot delight in them or dwell among them his Tabernacle is as I may so speak Pitched without this Camp and shall we not go forth to the Tabernacle of Christ and enjoy Communion with him though by this we lose a place in the Worlds Camp O! will you not follow Christ and resort to him will you prize their Favour or court their Friendship that slight and reject Jesus Christ As Amos 7.10 the Idolatrous Priest accuseth Amos the Prophet of the Lord to the King of Israel and saith the Land was not able to bear his words And Ezek. 3.7 the House of Israel will not harken unto thee for saith God they will not harken to me Jer. 12.8 Mine Heritage is unto me as a Lion in the Forrest it crieth out against me therefore he hated and forsook it And shall we linger and stay in such a Camp where God and Christ are not listened too where the Word will not cannot be born where Sinners indeed cry out against God when they pretend only to declaim against and revile Men O Righteous Father saith Christ the World doth not know thee John 17.25 As for Christ he was in the World and the World was made by him and yet it knew him not John 1.10 and the Spirit of Truth the World cannot receive because it knoweth him not John 14.17 And should we be much concerned or dejected if such a World doth not know us 1 John 3.1 but reproaches and casts us out 5. Reas We cannot be Faithful to Christ or enjoy Communion with him for ever if we do not go out to him without the Camp if we do not venture and Sacrifice all for Christ if we be ashamed of him before Men he will be ashamed of us before his Father and his Holy Angels if we deny him Mat. 10.32 33. he will deny us but if we confess him he will confess us before his Father in the Great Day of Judgment We cannot serve two Masters Mat. 6.24 especially when those are contrary to each other and each of them demands our whole Heart and Service we cannot please God Christ and the World too Know you not that the Friendship of this World is enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God Jam. 4.4 You cannot keep in with the World but you must break with God you cannot gratifie and oblige the World to you except you will fashion your selves according to its Pattern and Example you must drink in its Corruptions stain your selves with its Filth and run with them to the same excess of Riot else they will exclaim against you and speak Evil of you 1. Pet. 4.4 If you have not ductile Consciences flexible and compliant Spirits and Tempers if you cannot change say and unsay the World will not care for you it will be
speaks of the City of Caunus lib. 13. That the Inhabitants were so pale that Stratonicus said of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Dead Men walked about And is it not so here Men that are dead in Sin walk about and perform onely the Acts of the Natural Life The World is said to lye in Wickedness 1 John 5.19 as dead Lazarus is said to lye in the Grave John 11.41 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Verb is used in the first place and the Participle of the same Verb in the other This corrupt World is set out by the Dead Sea Ezek. 47.10 in which no Fish did live Engedi and Eneglaim there mentioned were Places that did lye one at the beginning the other at the end of the Dead Sea where Sodom and Gomorra stood of old and on the Banks of it Spiritual Fishermen are said to stand to draw Men out of this Dead Sea into Communion with Christ the Prince of Life The Cities of the blind Gentiles are said to be desolate Isa 54.3 because there were none in them that did live the Life of God And the Psalmist speaks of Wicked Men as dead Carcases when he saith The Pit is digged for them Psal 94.13 And shall we not come forth from such a World to Jesus Christ As God said of besieged Jerusalem of old Jer. 38.2 That he that staid in the City should die by the Famine or Pestilence but he that did go forth and yield to the King of Babylon should live So those that stay in this City of the World must be condemned and perish 1 Cor. 11.32 but those that go forth and submit to Jesus Christ shall be saved and live for ever Heb. 5.9 3. We should consider what Jesus Christ endured for us Heb. 12.3 How great a Person was he What provoking Contradictions did he suffer and that from base Worms and for vile Sinners He sanctified himself for our sakes to be a Priest and Sacrifice John 17.19 He was wholly for us he was born died rose again ascended to Heaven intercedes there and will come again for the good of his People Isa 9.6 Rom. 4. last Heb. 6. last Heb. 7.25 John 14.2 3. This precious Foundation was laid low in the Earth for us to build on this Noble Grain of Corn was sowed in the Dust that we might spring up from him to Everlasting Life This excellent Bunch of Grapes was cast into the Wine-press of the Wrath of God that we might drink new Wine with him in the Kingdom of his Father This generous Stock was wounded and cut that we as Grafts might be joyned to him and live in him for ever Do we believe Or can we think on these things and yet stick at any Service or recoil from any Sufferings for the sake of Jesus Christ 4. Let us consider how Honourable the Sufferings of Saints for Christ are Gal. 6.17 I bear about in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus the print of the Stripes and Wounds he had suffered for Christ's sake Saints may much more glory in these than Soldiers do in the Scars of their Wounds Was it not more Honourable for some of the clean Creatures preserved in the Ark afterwards to be offered in Sacrifice to God by Noah than for the unclean Creatures to survive them or for other Creatures to perish in the Deluge Gen. 8.20 Sufferings for Christ are part of our conformity to him in bearing the Cross and Testimonies of our Adoption that being chosen out of the World and called into the Kingdom of Christ therefore Earthly Men hate and abhor us John 15.19 The Sufferings of Saints are short their Evil things are measured by days Psal 94.12 13. but their Good and Happiness is commensurate to Eternity 2 Cor. 4.17 They drink of a Cup of Afflictions but it is a Cup like Christ's in this that it passes away by our drinking of it Matth. 26.4 Wicked Men shall drink of the Cup of Wrath and yet it shall always abide at their Lips but Saints shall drink of Christs Cup of Sufferings and the Cup shall pass away their Tears shall be dried up their Warfare shall be finished sorrow and sighing shall fly away Weeping shall endure but for a Night Joy shall come in the Morning Psal 30.5 After the smoaking Furnace of Bondage and Sufferings shall come the burning Lamp of Deliverance and Liberty Gen. 15.16 6. God sees and will reward the Sufferings of his Saints Rom. 8.18 2 Cor. 4.17 Though God doth set forth some of his People as men appointed to death 1 Cor. 4.9 yet he hath not appointed them to Wrath but to obtain Salvation by Jesus Christ 1 Thess 5.9 The Plowers indeed make long Furrows on them but God sowes them with the Promise of Everlasting Life while Men think to destroy their Gold of Grace God is refining them from their Dross of Corruption while Enemies would blow away the good Wheat that is in them God is winnowing them from their Chaff As Xerxes stood on the Shore and beheld the Sea-fight of his Men with the Grecians and when any of his Captains fought valiantly he had his Scribes by him to write down his Name and the Name of his City and Ship that he might reward him See Herod Hist 1.8 So Christ is on the calm Shore of a blessed Eternity he beholds all the Courage and Conflicts of his Servants he registers all in his Book and takes it on account in order to an eternal Reward 7. Consider the Benefit that hath accrued to the Church and the Advantage that hath redounded to the Kingdom of Christ by suffering Saints When Saints have suffered Death for Christ their Carcases have enriched and fatted the Ridges of Zion's Field their Blood hath watered the Furrows of Immanuel's Land and made it more fruitful When these Grains of Corn have fallen to the Earth and died many more have sprung up in their room Peter Martyr in Rom. 8.36 excellently observes That the Gospel hath been propagated in the World by Miracles and Torments by Works done above the Power of Nature and by cruel Sufferings patiently and joyfully endured beyond the strain or strength of Flesh and Blood These were wonderful Attestations to and Confirmations of the Truth of the Christian Religion 8. Let us consider That Christ's Interest shall at last be prevalent victorious and triumphant Crafty Worldlings desire to be of the strongest side The Decree of Heaven Psal 2.7 and the Zeal of the Lord of Hosts is for the Establishing of the Kingdom of Christ Isa 9.7 The Nations indeed have their time and are angry with Christ and his People but the time of his Wrath will also come Rev. 11.18 when he will tread them under his Feet punish and destroy them for ever Psal 110.1 Psal 21.8 9. Luke 19.27 God the Father hath promised to make all Christ's Foes to be his Foot-stooll Though Jacob be but a Worm yet shall he thresh the Mountains Isa 41.14 15. And
though Zion be as a Tabernacle weak and contemptible in the Eye of the World yet its Stakes shall not be removed nor its Cords broken Christ must reign till he hath subdued all his Enemies And though to serve Christ's Kingdom seems to be as the Potter's Vessel and his Enemies seem to have the Rod of Iron to dash it to pieces yet Faith hath another View and Prospect of Things it beholds all the adverse Powers of the World but as a frail Potter's Vessel and Christ as having the Rod of Iron and an Almighty Arm to use it for the dashing of them to pieces This Treatise My Lord that I humbly present to Your Honour is not unseasonable If we look abroad into the World we may perceive that God hath made many Shilohs among the Protestant Churches Jer. 7.12 and he sends us to those Shilohs to behold their Ruines and Desolations We yet stand on the Shore and behold the Shipwracks of others but if he that Parks in the wild Ocean and treads its mountainous Waves into a smooth Plain doth not prevent we may quickly feel and taste the same Fruits of Antichristian Rage Fury My Lord I have Dedicated this small Piece to Your Honour as a Token of my Respects and as a Testimony of my Gratitude to You for Your Favour and Kindness expressed towards me who am one of the meanest of the Servants of Christ As the Sacrifices of the Law did not discharge the Debt of Sinners but were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 2.14 a Hand-writing or Bond by which they confessed themselves obnoxious to God their Great Creditor so I presume not to pay my Debt by offering Your Honour this small Treatise but to recognise my Obligations and to confess my Engagements to Your Lordship That the Wing of Providence may overshadow Your outward and that the Well of Life may refresh Your inward Man That You may be established in the sound Belief and exemplary Practice of Gospel-Truths and so feel the Power and taste the sweetness of them for Your Eternal Comfort and Happiness it is the earnest Desire and it shall be the servent Prayer of Febr. 7. 1681. My Lord Your most Humble and Obliged Servant SAMVEL TOMLYNS Heb. 13.13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the Camp bearing his Reproach IN the Twelfth Verse the excellent Author of this Epistle speaks of the Sufferings of Christ as prefigured and typified by the solemn Sacrifice for sin that was Offered by the Jewish High-Priest on the day of Attonement That Sacrifice was not offered on the Altar as other Sacrifices were but was burnt without the Camp only the blood of the Sacrifice was brought into the most Holy Place to make Reconciliation for iniquity and for this end was sprinkled on Lev. 16.14 and before the Mercy Seat and the Fat of the Sin-Offerings only was burnt on the Altar Lev. 16.25 but the Flesh and Skins both of the Bullock and of the Goat that were offered for sin were to be carried without the Camp and there to be burnt Lev. 16.27 vid. Lev. 4.12 21. These solemn Anniversary Sacrifices offered on the great day of Attonement being the tenth day of the seventh Month did not only shadow out the Nature of Christ's Sacrifice viz. that he was to be a Sacrifice for sin Isa 53.10 2 Cor. 5. last but did also point at the very place of his Sufferings that he should be carried without the Gates of the earthly Jerusalem and there be put to death When the Israelites were Travellers in the Wilderness the Sacrifice was burnt without the Camp but when they arrived at and were setled in Canaan then the Sacrifice was burnt without the Gates of the City of Jerusalem And Jesus Christ to fulfill this Type suffered without the Gate The Divine Penman of this Epistle proceeds in the words of the Text to improve the Doctrine that he had delivered concerning Christ's suffering without the Gate and on it doth ground an excellent Exhortation and press a weighty Duty to wit To go forth to Jesus without the Camp bearing of his reproach The Sufferings of Christ were not only expiatory but also exemplary they did not only serve to appease God but also to instruct and animate men to tread in his steps to imitate his pattern to bean his Cross As Christ was an Abject so his people must expect to be Out-casts the world that was so unkind to him will not be friendly towards them as he was treated as unworthy to live among men so they must reckon to be cast out as unmeet to be accounted and reputed either as Parts of the Common-wealth or Members of the Church they must look to drink of Christ's Cup and to be baptized with his Baptism Rom. 8.36 1 Cor. 4.9 and so account themselves as Sheep for slaughter as men devoted to death as condemned Malefactors going without the Gate to Execution In the words we may observe these several Parts 1. A Duty urged and enforced on the Hebrews in which the Author of this Epistle doth comprize and comprehend himself Let us go forth to Jesus 2. The place to which they were to go viz. without the Camp 3. We have the difficulty of this Duty and what it will cost us to comply with it we must share in the reproach and ignominy of Jesus Christ To be separated from the world to be exclaimed against to be hooted and pointed at by men to be spoiled imprisoned condemned and executed as vile Hereticks as infamous Malefactors carries in it a great deal of shame in the Eye of sense When the people of God do suffer hard things they that are either actors in their Tragedies or spectators of their Miseries are very prone and ready to conclude that they have committed some great evil of sin and so deserved this evil of punishment I suffer saith Paul 2 Tim. 2.9 as an evil-doer even unto Bonds And Christ foretels to his Disciples that the men of the world should cast out their names as evil Luke 6.22 and elsewhere Matt. 5.10 11. he intimates that Adversaries should revile them and speak all manner of evil falsly against them for his names sake Nothing is more ordinary and common than that the world should calumniate brand and black those that will not wear its Livery and shape themselves after its Manners and Example And in these words bearing of his reproach we may discern and espy a motive and argument secretly couched to encourage and animate them to go forth to Jesus and to bear reproach for it is his reproach we are no worse used and treated than our Lord was we are but conformed to him in ignominy and revilings Was the Prince of life the King of glory thus clouded and eclipsed thus blackt and stigmatized by the world and shall we be tender of our Names shall we doat on our Credit or be fond of our Reputation shall we shrink and recoil from sufferings and
not to enjoy their Happiness in the old life of the first but in the new life of the second Adam 7. Mot. By going out to Jesus Christ without the Camp we defend the Gospel strengthen the Faith and inflame the Hearts of others with love to and zeal for Christ and have the comfort of our own tryed and approved Graces First We defend and confirm the Gospel Phil. 1.7 the Apostle speaks of his Bonds as his defence and confirmation of the Gospel O! What an Honour is this to be Christs Champions and by our Sufferings to defend and confirm the Truth of the Gospel This is a rational Argument and Evidence offered to the Spectators of Saints Sufferings that surely this is truth and these men are fully satisfied and assured that it is so else they would not thus spend their Blood and lay down their lives for it Secondly This strengthens the Faith of others and incourages them to take up the Cross and daunts the Hearts of Adversaries Hereby the Faith of the Saints is fortified Phil. 2.17 Paul speaks of his being offered upon the Sacrifice and Service of the Phillipians Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is If my Blood be poured out as a Drink-Offering to shadow the Sacrifice of your Faith He alludes to the Drink-Offerings of Wine that were of Old added to Sacrifices according to the Law of Moses Levit. 23.13 18. The Sacrifice and Service of the Saints Faith would be much advantaged by Pauls Martyrdom how would his Blood water those heavenly Truths that he had sown among them and make them take deeper root and fructifie more abundantly And Pauls Bonds incouraged and imboldened others without fear to publish the Gospel while they beheld his resolution and constancy Phil. 1.12 13 14. The sparks that have flown from the Flames of Suffering and Martyred Saints have taken hold of the hearts of Spectators and have fired them with love to Christ and Zeal for his Glory Justin Martyr professes that he was much influenced and wrought upon by the courage and joy of suffering and dying Christians And hereby often the Hearts of Enemies are quailed and discouraged from proceeding in their Cruelty Austin tells that when Julian the Apostate commanded the Christians at Antioch to remove the Body of Babylas they fell a singing the 114th Psalm at which the Emperour being inraged he commanded Salustius his Captain to apprehend some of them Who accordingly took several Christians and among them one Theodorus a Young man whom he caused to be Tormented for several Hours yet he still continued singing the 114th Psalm At which Salustius was so dismaid that he caused the Tormentors to cease and went to the Emperour and desired him that no more might be Tormented for all the Christian Suffering did but tend to their Glory By whom the Emperour was perswaded to torture no more of the Christians at Antioch whom he had seized upon And hereby Christians have the comfort of their tried and approved Graces The Apostle salutes Apelles as one approved in Christ Rom. 16.10 O! what a mark of Honour is it for a man in signal services and eminent sufferings to be approved as sincere in Christ A tryed Faith is a precious Faith 1 Pet. 1.7 O! how comfortable is it for a Christian to say This Faith hath been in the Furnace this Love hath passed through a Fiery Tryal and hath not sailed or abated Christ hath been evidenced to be dearer to me than all the world 8. Mot. If we go forth to Jesus we shall be no losers by it A visit from Christ will make a Prison better than a Palace He will not leave you comfortless he will come to you John 14.18 When you are thrust out of the worlds Camp and seem as naked men in the open field yet then the Power of Christ shall rest upon you and as a Tent overshadow you as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by the Apostle doth import 2 Cor. 12.9 If your sufferings do abound your consolations by Christ shall abound much more 2 Cor. 1.4 When all men forsake you the Lord will stand with you and for you 2 Tim. 4.17 Whatever you leave and forsake for Christ and the Gospel's sake shall be recompensed to you an hundred fold Matth. 19.28 29. and that now in this time as it is expressed Mark 10.30 and that with Persecutions as is further intimated though the world rage and persecute the people of God yet these Persecutions shall not frustrate or obstruct the performance of the Promise But how shall the Promise be fulfilled I answer In a double sense it is made good 1. Those that forsake their Relations according to the Flesh shall have the Favour and Friendship of a new Kindred according to the Spirit and there is nothing like to Love in the Spirit Col. 1.8 Love on a Spiritual account is the Purest and Noblest Flame an Eternal Fire that shall never be extinguished You that leave Parents Brethren Sisters Kinsmen that are related to you in the first Adam you shall have a new Stock of Kindred related to you in the second Adam Elder Christians shall express the kindness of Fathers and Mothers and younger Saints shall manifest the love of Brethren and Sisters and so you shall have a hundred Spiritual Kinsmen for one Natural Kinsman that you lose Christ designs to joyn and link Men of several Nations in the nearest best and strongest Bonds and to gather some of all Nations into one Family and houshold of Faith Gal. 6.10 Ephes 2.19 and thereby to kindle the most admirable and excellent Love among the Members of this New Family And those that forsake House and Lands shall have the Hearts Houses and Purses of their Spiritual Kindred opened to them to receive their Persons and supply their Necessities and this will the more incline and sway them to extend such Kindness because they account they exercise Hospitality to Christ they take him in feed and cloath him in his Members 2. Suffering Saints receive a hundred-fold now in the present time as they experience the smallest Portion and Pittance of outward things that they enjoy to be a hundred-fold better than the greater Plenty and Abundance of the Wicked Psal 37.16 A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked And why is it better Surely this is that which enhances and advances the value and worth of what the Righteous have that it flows from the Love of God as a Father that it is cast in as an Addition to the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness Matth. 6.33 that Godliness hath not onely the promises of this Life but of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 that as God's First-born Heb. 12.23 they have the double Portion Provision on their way and the Eternal Inheritance at the Journeys end God breeds feeds and maintains them in their Minority and hath laid up great Portions for them in Heaven there